


The Birthday Wish

by transdimensional_void



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), The Sims (Video Games)
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4866539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transdimensional_void/pseuds/transdimensional_void
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Dil's birthday, and if he could have one wish, it would be...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Birthday Wish

It couldn’t exactly be described as the best camping trip ever. From Tabitha’s mysterious, hours-long disappearance to Bob’s surly refusal to let Dil join in horseshoes to that insanely awkward moment when Eliza crawled into the tent after him to “take a nap,” the weekend hadn’t exactly gone to plan. Not to mention Tabitha’s apparent preference for sleeping outside on a log over sharing a tent with him. At least his panda costume had seemed to go over pretty well…

They had one final night at the campsite, and then they could get back home and try to erase all memory of the trip from their brains. The sun had just gone down and it wasn’t really properly dark yet, but Tabitha was already making her way over to the tent. Dil wasn’t even remotely tired, but he figured he would be an idiot not to seize the opportunity offered.

“Ahhh, I’m feeling a bit tired, guys,” he called to Eliza and Bob over his shoulder as he scampered after his girlfriend. “Gonna turn in early!”

“In your bear costume?” he heard Bob mutter behind him, but he thought it best to ignore it.

When he pushed aside the tent flap and ducked inside, he found Tabitha already snuggling down in her sleeping bag.

“Is that what you’re wearing to bed?” she asked around a huge yawn.

“Ha ha, yeah, I guess,” he laughed, pulling the stifling panda mask off at last and stepping over to where his own sleeping bag was laid out. Pretending he was just smoothing it out, he bent down and inched it ever so closer to where Tabitha lay.

She had her eyes closed, but one hand rested on the floor of the tent between their two sleeping bags, and he was pretty sure that with just the right positioning he could “accidentally” brush his hand against hers as she fell asleep. And then maybe she would dream about him...

No sooner had he slid into his own sleeping bag, though, than the tent flap twitched aside again to admit Eliza.

“Mind if I join you?” she murmured, lashes lowering as she met Dil’s eyes.

 _For the love of all that is holy, yes!!!!!_  was what Dil wished he could say. Instead, he offered her a tight-lipped smile and a tiny nod, and then rolled over so his back was to her. At least now he was facing Tabitha and could watch the way every line of her face seemed to slowly smooth out and relax as she drifted into sleep.

He really liked her. A lot. He had even begun to toy around with the idea that he might possibly love her. Not that he would say it out loud. They’d barely been dating for three days now, and there was no way he was going to ruin it by moving too fast again. He’d learned his lesson…he hoped.

Behind him he heard the tent flap open again. Great. Now the gang was all here. He sighed and shut his eyes, hoping that Eliza and Bob would assume he was asleep and leave him alone.

It wasn’t that he disliked the two of them. After all, the three of them had enjoyed some…interesting times together. It’s just, in retrospect, inviting his ex and her not-so-into-him husband along on a couples camping trip was perhaps not the brightest idea of his life. How did he keep managing to screw everything up so royally?

But Tabitha hadn’t left him yet. That was the one bright patch in this whole muddled mess. Tabitha seemed to genuinely want to be with him. It almost seemed like a miracle.

The thing was, Dil wasn’t a religious person. He didn’t believe, as many did, that beyond his own reality there was some mystical realm where a race of capricious gods looked down on him and made sport of his life. Dil’s belief system didn’t stretch much farther than a steady determination that his life would be fulfilled if only he could achieve his dream of becoming a master mixologist.

Nevertheless, as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore how itchy and hot the panda costume was beginning to feel, he said a little prayer to any higher power that might be listening.

_Please, please. Just let it work out this time. I’ve never asked you for anything before, but please. I want to be happy, and Tabitha makes me happy. Please don’t let me ruin this one too._

He cracked his eyes open again, just to see Tabitha’s beautiful sleeping face one more time, sighed, and then nestled down deeper in his sleeping bag. The tent was filled with the soft sounds of breathing and sleeping, but Dil still felt wide awake. It took nearly an hour of lying quietly and taking deep, slow breaths, but at last Dil drifted off to sleep…

“Is he asleep now?”

“Yeah, I think he’s asleep.”

“Should we end it there?”

“I think that’s a good stopping point.”

“Wow. One year. Can you believe Dil is a year old now?”

“He’s growing up so fast!”

“Are you actually crying, Dan?”

“Maybe just a bit…”

 _Hello?_  Dil tried to say, but his mouth wouldn’t open.  _Hello??? Who’s there?_

“Wait, did you hear something?”

_Hello?? Can you hear me?_

“Phil, I swear I hear someone talking…”

“…I hear it too.”

 _Yes! It’s me!! I’m here!_  Dil yelled, though he knew his mouth wasn’t moving.

“Is that… Wait. What the fuck, Phil. Is that…Dil?”

 _Yes, it’s me, Dil!_ If he could move his arms, he would be waving them around, trying to get the attention of the unknown owners of the voices.

“Shhhhh— That’s totally Dil. He’s standing right there. Holy crap!”

All Dil could see was the darkness behind his eyes as he slept. Right. He was asleep. He knew he was asleep, so this had to be a dream. That would explain why he couldn’t actually open his mouth and talk, but… Why couldn’t he see anything?

“Tell me we just took a load of drugs, and I’m hallucinating,” said one of the voices. “I am not seeing our Sim standing on the desk trying to talk to us.”

_You can see me? But I can’t see you! Whoever you are…_

There was a long silence before the other voice spoke.

“There were no drugs, Dan. And unless we’re hallucinating the exact same thing—“

“Mass hysteria?”

“Can you call it mass hysteria if there’s only two of us?”

 _Hey! I don’t know who you are, but if it makes you feel any better, this is just a dream that I’m having,_  Dil interjected.

“Look, there’s no way this could just be your dream because you aren’t even real,” said one of the voices, the higher-pitched one. Dil was starting to be able to tell them apart.

“You’re talking to him right now, Dan. How can you say he’s not real?”

_Yeah, how can you say I’m not real? As far as I’m concerned, you’re just some weird, disembodied voices I’m hearing in a dream!_

“…You’re literally just a character in a video game we play. I hate to break it to you, but you’re nothing more than pixels and data.”

That made Dil frown. Or, rather, he would have frowned if he had any control over his facial expression at the moment. This was the most messed up dream he’d ever had.

_I’m definitely real. Right now I’m lying in a tent in the middle of a forest next to my girlfriend while wearing a panda costume. It doesn’t get much more real than that._

He heard a gusty breath that he assumed must be a sigh.

“Dil,” said the lower voice, the one that hadn’t been talking quite as much, “I know it must seem real to you, but you’re only in that tent wearing that costume because we decided you should be. We created you, and we control your entire life.”

Dil couldn’t respond at first. He was quite literally dumbstruck. He was sure that, under different circumstances, his jaw would have dropped open. Were these two voices actually claiming to be gods? This is what he got for thinking about religion at bedtime.

 _I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in the creators,_ Dil managed to say at last.  _That’s just a silly myth that people made up to try to excuse their own bad life choices._

He heard a splutter of laughter at that, and he thought it came from the noisier one.

“Oh my god. Phil, did you hear that? He doesn’t  _believe_  in us!”

 _Nothing personal,_ Dil rushed to assure the voice,  _I’ve just never been very religious._

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t really matter if he believes in us or not,” the deeper voice mused. “We’re not like Tinkerbell. We don’t need someone’s applause to keep us going.”

“True,” the other voice responded. “I am curious, though— If you don’t believe in us, Dil, then why are you here?”

Dil shrugged, or tried to.

_I’m not entirely sure… Unless maybe it’s because I said this stupid prayer before I fell asleep, so it could be—_

“Prayer? Why would you say a prayer if you aren’t religious?”

Dil sighed, a long, drawn out sound.

 _Well, it doesn’t hurt to hedge your bets,_  I think, he muttered, and besides.  _I figured, if it was a miracle that Tabitha and I ever got together, then perhaps another miracle could keep us that way._

“Aw, come on, Dil,” said the higher-pitched voice. “Don’t think like that! You’re a pretty cool guy— Got some great bartending and cooking skills. You’ve started beefing up a bit. You’re…funny—“

_If by funny, you mean I enjoy dressing up in a panda costume and scaring my friends shitless, then I guess that’s true…_

“Er, yeah, sorry about that,” said the other voice. “That may have been our fault.”

“The point is,” the first voice interrupted again, “that you’re a great guy, and Tabitha is lucky to have you. You don’t need a miracle to keep her around!”

 _Ha!_ Dil couldn’t keep the bitter tone from his voice. _You must not have seen the mess I made of my previous three relationships. I mean, look what happened with Erica—_

“That was nobody’s fault but hers!” cried the deeper voice. “She’s awful!”

“Agreed. There was no way things were ever going to work with her!”

 _Sure, but we didn’t have to end up as mortal enemies because of it,_  Dil sighed, shaking his head as he remembered the two physical fights they’d gotten in so far. _I really bungled that one._

“Er, well, don’t beat yourself up too much about it,” said the higher-pitched voice with a small cough. “That, er, was probably down to us more than anyone…”

 _Well, I know I’m the only one to blame for what happened with Summer,_  Dil pointed out.  _She actually liked me, I’m pretty sure. But then I had to go and ruin it by confessing my feelings too quickly._

When this was met with silence from the two voices, Dil continued, talking almost more to himself than to anyone else.

 _And then Eliza. God, what was I thinking? I was all over the place with her…and Bob._  He shuddered a bit at the memory of the wild ride he’d taken the Pancakes for.

“Crap. I’m sorry, Dil.”

“Yeah,” said the lower-pitched voice. “Yeah, I’m really sorry, Dil. We’ve kind of messed up a lot of your relationships for you.”

Dil shook his head. He didn’t know why the voices in his dream seemed so convinced that they were to blame for all of his poor decision-making, but there didn’t seem to be any use in arguing with them about it.

 _I think… If I could have one wish, or…one prayer answered by a deity, it would be to finally have a happy relationship._ Dil paused as he remembered the way Tabitha’s soft lips curved up in a slight smile and the way her shoulders rose and fell a little with her breathing as she slept.  _I think I’m in love with Tabitha, and I just…I’m so terrified I’m going to mess things up again._

“One wish, huh?” said the higher-pitched voice.

“Like a birthday wish?” said the other voice.

Dil had never had a birthday before, though he had of course heard that on birthdays people blew out candles on cakes and made a wish.

_Yeah, like that, I guess. If I could have a birthday wish, it would be—_

“Dil?”

He felt dizzy. Someone was shaking him, and he felt hot and sweaty all over. Ughhh, sleeping in the bear costume was a terrible choice.

“Dil, it’s almost time to go.”

Was that…Tabitha’s voice? With every ounce of strength he could muster, Dil raised one eyelid and tried to focus on the face bent over him.

“There you are! I thought I’d never get you out of bed, you big sleepy head.” Tabitha’s face was glowing with the morning sunlight and a gentle smile. As he watched, she reached down and ruffled his hair with the fingers of one hand. “Come on. Get up. We’ve still got to have breakfast and take down the tent.”

She started to stand, but Dil managed to reach a hand out and place it on her arm to stop her.

“Tabitha,” he murmured.

“Hmm?” she said, still smiling, still bent over him.

And before she knew what was happening, Dil was placing a swift, soft kiss against her lips.

“What was that for?” she demanded when Dil had leaned away again.

“Nothing,” he grinned, shoving his sleeping bag aside and jumping to his feet. “I just woke up happy is all. Come on. Let’s go have breakfast.”

He took her hand and, with a bemused smile, she followed him out of the tent.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr in celebration of Dil Howlter's first birthday!


End file.
